Eliminating the Personal Property Tax: Part 2 – What’s at Stake for Counties

(continued from Part 1 published 11/28/12)

In FY 2012, the personal property tax produced over an estimated $122 million for the 55 county governments in West Virginia, accounting for more than 30 percent of all county property tax revenue. And since property taxes account for 63 percent of county government revenue, that means the personal property tax accounts for nearly 1/5 of all county government revenue.

However, some counties are much more reliant on personal property tax revenue than others. The table below shows the amount of revenue each county in West Virginia would lose with the elimination of taxes on personal property, and its share of total property tax revenue. As the table shows, in a number of counties, personal property taxes make up more than or close to half of all property tax revenue. Each county would lose, on average, more than $2 million in property tax revenue.

County

Revenue Lost

Share of Total Property Tax Revenue

Barbour

$828,945

41%

Berkeley

$2,711,613

15%

Boone

$6,343,697

54%

Braxton

$813,176

36%

Brooke

$2,428,044

49%

Cabell

$6,935,898

31%

Calhoun

$543,677

41%

Clay

$557,460

41%

Doddridge

$1,336,782

54%

Fayette

$3,036,953

33%

Gilmer

$1,127,186

47%

Grant

$800,960

19%

Greenbrier

$1,437,608

21%

Hampshire

$664,064

12%

Hancock

$1,989,047

39%

Hardy

$670,011

18%

Harrison

$6,343,546

34%

Jackson

$3,114,314

43%

Jefferson

$1,438,025

13%

Kanawha

$17,997,904

31%

Lewis

$1,590,787

37%

Lincoln

$1,365,070

41%

Logan

$5,973,734

55%

McDowell

$3,347,227

30%

Marion

$3,057,731

37%

Marshall

$1,603,780

30%

Mason

$1,947,874

56%

Mercer

$1,682,208

24%

Mineral

$1,568,444

29%

Mingo

$3,075,463

52%

Monongalia

$4,463,230

27%

Monroe

$305,505

21%

Morgan

$338,271

9%

Nicholas

$1,747,045

39%

Ohio

$2,281,922

27%

Pendleton

$245,410

17%

Pleasants

$630,480

22%

Pocahontas

$335,597

11%

Preston

$1,092,046

23%

Putnam

$1,874,797

16%

Raleigh

$4,732,635

34%

Randolph

$1,119,943

25%

Ritchie

$1,319,277

43%

Roane

$870,455

36%

Summers

$212,727

12%

Taylor

$738,849

24%

Tucker

$546,856

23%

Tyler

$792,726

44%

Upshur

$1,823,128

42%

Wayne

$2,324,380

39%

Webster

$597,584

41%

Wetzel

$1,207,427

36%

Wirt

$227,521

28%

Wood

$3,560,720

29%

Wyoming

$2,405,357

51%

Total

$122,125,113

31.5%

Source: WVCBP analysis of State Tax Dept Data

Approximately $103 million of the $122 million in personal property tax revenue was collected through the county current levy rates, while roughly $19 million was collected through county excess levies.

Losing such a large chunk of revenue would place county governments throughout the state under an enormous amount of fiscal strain. With local governments limited in what revenue they can raise, counties would struggle to replace the lost revenue. Levy rates on homeowners would certainly have to rise, but even at maximum rates, it is unlikely all the lost revenue could be replaced. This would threaten the public structures, services, and programs that enhance the quality of life for county residents, as well as the infrastructure provided at the county level that helps businesses thrive and compete.

Working For a Shared Prosperity - The West Virginia
Center on Budget and Policy focuses on how policy decisions
affect all West Virginians, including low- and moderate-income
families, other vulnerable populations, and the important
community programs that serve them.